Knitted stretch swim trunks and bathing suits



A. M. COHEN 2,854,669 KNITTED STRETCH SWIM TRUNKS AND BATHING SUITS Oct. 7, 1958 Filed A ril s, 1956 INVENTOR. ALBERT M. COHEN A TTORNEYS,

United States Patent 9 KNITTED STRETCH SWIM TRUNKS AND BATHTNG SUITS Albert M. Cohen, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Franklin Sweater Milis, Inc., Philadelphia, Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 6, 1956, Serial No. 576,636

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-67} trunk or bathing suit fabricated of a cloth knitted of a stretch yarn in which the wales run horizontally and the courses vertically so that the garment is stretchable two ways and more so in the horizontal dimension. Thus a swim trunk or bathing suit made over a specially engineered pattern can stretch to efiectively fit a wider variety of sizes than was heretofore possible.

Another object of the invention is to provide swim trunks fabricated of a knitted stretch cloth of the character described in which the front panel from crotch to waist is provided with a liner to restrain vertical stretch only of said front panel, thereby imparting support to said trunks where needed without sacrificing stretch in a horizontal direction.

A further object of the invention is to provide trunks of the character described which have leg openings that incorporate rubber or elastic bands to improve the contractibility or recoverability of the fabric at the leg openings here needed.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of trunks in position for wear and incorporating the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the trunks turned inside out;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary diagram of the knit of the fabric as taken in the block marked 3 in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary diagram of the knit of the liner as taken in the block marked 4 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Specific reference is now made to the drawing in which similar reference characters are used for corresponding elements throughout.

Although the invention as illustrated is applied to mens swimming trunks 10, it will be understood that it can be applied to mens and womens bathing suits as well.

The cloth making up the trunks is knitted in a rib stitch 12 as shown in Fig. 3 of a stretch yarn, preferably stretch nylon made in accordance with the Billion Patent No. 2,564,245 and known in the trade as Helanca nylon, or any other equivalent stretch yarn.

It has been found that such cloth is not only stretchable coursewise but also walewise. In fact the walewise stretch and recoverability is greater than the coursewise. Because of this the cloth is cut, positioned and sewn in the trunks so that the wales 14 run horizontally and the courses 16 run vertically.

Trunks made of this cloth with the wales running horizontally and the courses vertically which are cut over a specially engineered pattern are capable of fitting a large number of sizes.

To offset some of the resiliency of the cloth and thereby to improve its support where needed, the front panel 18 has secured thereto by suitable stitching 20 a liner 22. The liner extends from the crotch 24 to the waist 26, and serves as a means to restrain vertical stretch of the front panel while permitting full horizontal stretch. To accomplish this the liner is knitted of wool, cotton, or synthetic fibers, all non-stretch, and the liner is so cut, positioned and sewn that, as conventional, the courses 25 run horizontally and the wales 27 vertically. Thus the liner is stretchable horizontally but not vertically. The rear panel 28 of the trunks is not lined to allow full horizontal and vertical stretch.

To improve the snugness of fit of the trunks where needed, as at the leg openings 30, there is sewn in the margins of the leg openings, as at 32, rubber or elastic bands 34 and then the margins are hemmed as at 36.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that skilled artisans may make minor variations without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A pair of trunks comprising front and back panels, a waistband portion and leg openings, said trunks being fabricated of a cloth knitted of a stretch yarn, the cloth being so cut, positioned and sewn that in the trunks as! worn, the wales run horizontally and the courses vertically thereby rendering the trunks stretchable walewise as well as coursewise, with greater recoverability walewise, and means associated with the front panel of the trunks from the crotch to the waist to restrain the vertical stretch only of said entire front panel, said means including a liner secured to the entire front panel, said liner being a cloth knitted of non-stretch yarn and having courses running horizontally and wales vertically so that the liner is substantially non-stretchable vertically.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,786,869 Rutledge Dec. 30, 1930 1,937,899 Le Coney Dec. 5, 1933 2,215,291 Hurd Sept. 17, 1940 2,471,348 Redmond May 24, 1949 2,792,698 Hampp May 21, 1956 

